New Delhi: Yearning for change, Jharkhand has voted BJP to power with the Assembly poll results handing out defeat to three former chief ministers in their home turfs indicating the electorate's disenchantment with status quo.
There were speculations about the comeback of former BJP Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and three-time chief minister Arjun Munda but both lost the election and as such the party has more legroom to experiment with new faces, given the fact that the electorate has rejected most of the old faces.
Uncertainty has been the hallmark of Jharkhand politics with frequent change of political loyalties. While politicians kept changing parties, making and breaking one after the other government, the state was often dubbed a "banana republic" by critics.
The clear verdict in this election is to be seen in this context of recurring political istability in the state.
This is the third Assembly election in Jharkhand in its 14 years of existence but the state has seen nine governments interspersed with three periods of central rule.
The previous two polls were held in 2005 and 2009 and both voted hung assemblies.
The state has so far been ruled by five tribal Chief Ministers -- Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once and incumbent) during the period. There have been occasional voices within Congress and BJP to prop up a non-tribal Chief Minister in the state.
